as in features
formal
the appearance of a person's face; a person's facial features
He and his son have the same distinctive physiognomy.
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Recent Examples of physiognomy
Such methods are considered unreliable, in particular as they are often based on evidence sets from European children that don’t match the physiognomies of young people from other place in the world.
—
Frey Lindsay,
Forbes.com,
22 July 2025
What has not been sufficiently appreciated, however, is that the same systemic analysis of the exterior body’s flesh-and-bone parts that fueled physiognomy and phrenology in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries also extended to the hair.
—
Literary Hub,
9 June 2025
Kahn presents an extraordinary panoply of European, African, and Latin faces — physiognomies that instantly convey a liberal democracy in conflict.
—
Armond White,
National Review,
6 Sep. 2024
Guston’s first comic for The Junior Times, a sparse strip drawn at age 12, introduced Little Snowball, a Black youth bearing exaggerated racial physiognomy and dialect.
—
Walker Mimms,
New York Times,
4 June 2024
See All Example Sentences for physiognomy
Frey Lindsay,
Forbes.com,
22 July 2025
What has not been sufficiently appreciated, however, is that the same systemic analysis of the exterior body’s flesh-and-bone parts that fueled physiognomy and phrenology in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries also extended to the hair.
—
Literary Hub,
9 June 2025
Kahn presents an extraordinary panoply of European, African, and Latin faces — physiognomies that instantly convey a liberal democracy in conflict.
—
Armond White,
National Review,
6 Sep. 2024
Guston’s first comic for The Junior Times, a sparse strip drawn at age 12, introduced Little Snowball, a Black youth bearing exaggerated racial physiognomy and dialect.
—
Walker Mimms,
New York Times,
4 June 2024
See All Example Sentences for physiognomy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for physiognomy
Noun
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Update to the latest version to see all Vogue content, as well as new features like our Runway Genius quiz, Group Chats, and posts from Vogue contributors.
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Organizing Elements To really put your mudroom over the top, consider incorporating features that help make organizing your home easier.
Noun
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Police release video of the person racing across the roof of the building from where authorities say the shot was fired, dropping down to the ground and walking off campus.
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Others may miss the warmth of a person who can read the room, handle a strange request or help when something goes wrong.
Noun
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Swift and Kelce’s big day comes after months of speculation and back-to-back public appearances.
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Questions remain over whether the funeral will mark the first public appearance of Mojtaba Khamenei since his father and family members were killed on the first day of the war.
Cite this Entry
“Physiognomy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/physiognomy. Accessed 5 Jul. 2026.
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